Qinglong District, an urban village.
That's where Lin Yun's small workshop was located.
Not just Lin Yun's small workshop, Qinglong District in Shen City was the largest wholesale electronics market in the country. Many large and small workshops were clinging to it for survival, many of which were clustered in these urban villages.
The rent in the urban village was cheap and very convenient. People lived upstairs and worked downstairs.
At this moment, it was 10 in the morning, the usual time for people to work, and the urban village was very quiet.
Occasionally, one could see the workshops with their doors wide open and some workers bustling about inside.
Lin Yun and Xia Qingqing were walking shoulder to shoulder, soon arriving at Lin Yun's small workshop.
A seven-story building, about a hundred square meters on the first floor was the factory rented by Lin Yun.
At this point, the door was open, and the usual hustle and bustle was nowhere to be seen. The full equipment was gone, leaving only a vast, quiet space and some scattered garbage.
At this moment, some voices suddenly came out.
"Well, well, Ding Wei, Little Mei, I said that the boss is not here again, who are you working so hard for? Speaking of which, after this incident, Lin Yun probably won't be the boss anymore, whether this place will still be his is also uncertain, and we may not even have our salaries this month. You are working in vain..."
A young man's voice sneered.
"Zhong Liang, are you conscious when you say that? When we first arrived in Shen City and were bullied, who helped us out? When we had nowhere to go, who took us in? The boss did! Whether it's wages, food, or accommodation, has the boss ever wronged us? Your words... now..."
A young man's voice resonated solemnly.
"Alright, alright, Ding Wei, don't preach me, you are such a saint, I only know we work for money, I've worked for a month, and there's no sign of wages, who do I speak my grievances to..."
The voice of the young man earlier, said impatiently.
"Ding Wei, Little Mei, although Zhong Liang's words are harsh, he is worried about you, Lin Yun was fined a large sum of money, he even counted the cheap equipment to pay off the debt. This factory is definitely going bankrupt, what is there to clean up in that pile of garbage? Lin Yun owes us so much wages, he might just run away after he is released from the detention center, and you are still cleaning up... You just don't get it, a few days ago when they came to investigate and collect the equipment, you still stood in their way, did you think we could resist? Well, you got hurt on your head, who cares? Are you still expecting Lin Yun to count it as a work-related injury..."
Another young man's voice suddenly spoke.
"Boss..."
Ding Wei was about to say something else when he suddenly looked at the door and stuttered.
"Boss, Sister Qingqing, you're here!"
A girl wearing glasses was cleaning up the garbage, upon hearing Ding Wei's words, she immediately looked up and saw the two people at the door, exclaiming happily.
The two people at the door were Lin Yun and Xia Qingqing.
"Ding Wei, Little Mei, you guys have worked hard!"
Lin Yun gave a slight smile and said.
Then, Lin Yun turned to the other two young people and said indifferently, "Zhong Liang, Zhengqi Lee, you don't need to worry about me taking your wages and running away. Little Mei, go get the account book, calculate how much they have earned, I will pay off their wages now."
While speaking, Lin Yun turned his head to look at the girl with glasses.
He conducted his business with integrity, up to now, he only did a high imitation once. Even when doing high imitation, he never completely copied others' appearances. When he accepted the fine, he specifically saved the wages for his subordinates. For this reason, he even sold the newly purchased expensive equipment at a lower price to a certain department.
"Okay, boss." The girl with glasses nodded quickly and said, upon finishing, she immediately turned around to get the account book.
Seeing this, Xia Qingqing quickly went to help.
"It's not just our wages, but also others'. We have been waiting here for them..." Speaking ill of others behind their backs and being listened to in person, Zhong Liang and Zhengqi Lee were a bit embarrassed, but soon they thought of their task over the past few days and quickly said.
"Then have them come over, their wages, I will settle them today."
Lin Yun nodded and responded directly.
There were twenty-one workers in his workshop in total. He didn't care where the others went and why they were so assured to let Zhong Liang and Zhengqi Lee wait for news here.
"Okay."
Lin Yun's straightforwardness left Zhong Liang and Zhengqi Lee holding their breath, but they had no choice but to agree.
Afterward, Zhong Liang took out his phone and started making a call.
"Ding Wei, how's your head injury? Is it alright?"
Lin Yun turned around and looked at the bandage on Ding Wei's head, expressing his concern.
Ding Wei was nineteen years old. His personality was rather introverted but very stubborn. Once he set his mind on something, he wouldn't back down. So, when the authorities came to seize the factory's equipment, the usually reserved Ding Wei boldly stepped up to stop them from seizing it.
At this moment, seeing Lin Yun show concern for him of his own accord, he immediately felt at a loss and quickly waved his hand saying, "Boss, it's just a minor injury on my head, it's nothing..."
Then as if he suddenly remembered something, he quickly added, "Right, boss, you don't need to rush to settle my wages. I know you're in a tight spot right now..."
"Boss, my wage too… There's no rush to settle it…" Just as Ding Wei finished speaking, Xia Qingqing and Little Mei had already returned with the account book. Little Mei also chimed in.
"Pfft! Hypocrites!"
On the other side, after making a call, Zhong Liang saw this scene, immediately looked at them disdainfully and commented.
What's this about no rush to settle? True saints, might as well say they don't want it!
They came out to work for money!
Still wanting money, yet trying to play saints, he despised this kind of people the most!
"Zhong Liang, you…"
Seeing this, Ding Wei was once again furious.
"Ding Wei, don't mind his words." Lin Yun patted Ding Wei's shoulder, stopping him from saying more.
Arguing with some people could only result in more anger and accomplished nothing worthwhile.
Zhong Liang was one of those people.
"Pssh..."
Zhong Liang only showed contempt when he saw this. As the type who loved to mock others, he reveled in seeing others get enraged by his words and then be left speechless. Now, even though Lin Yun was preventing Ding Wei from speaking, it still made him feel very disdainful.
However, without the other party responding, he didn't know what to say for a moment.
Two minutes later, a group of people had come over. They were actually Lin Yun's workers.
But, the one leading the group was a middle-aged fat man.
"Well, well, Boss Lin, you've been released from custody, I see?" The middle-aged fat man said with a playful tone.
"Wang Wenchang, what are you doing here?" Lin Yun stared at the middle-aged fat man, his voice cold.
Just last month, he had entered the imitation market, and this middle-aged fat man was one of his competitors, giving him plenty of trouble.
"Heh, I'm just here to bring my employees to collect their wages from their previous boss. There are so many unscrupulous bosses around these days, I just don't want my workers to be exploited." Wang Wenchang scanned the people behind him as he spoke, a smug look on his face.
It was clear that these people had already become his workers.
"Boss..."
"Brother Lin..."
It was at this point that some of the people behind Wang Wenchang started to whisper awkwardly.
After all, not everyone was as shameless like Zhong Liang. Of course, this was also due to the fact that Lin Yun had been good to his workers.
"Was it you behind the closure of my factory?" Lin Yun asked, his gaze never leaving Wang Wenchang.
Setting aside other places, there were more than just his company in the shantytown creating imitations. His was not the only factory that made exact replicas. Many other workshops were doing the same, but only their company was singled out when the authorities came to inspect.
According to the authorities, they didn't know about the other places, they had only received a report about his factory.
Having worked his way up to a small business in five years since starting work at eighteen, Lin Yun was no fool. He had an inkling something was wrong.
At this moment, Wang Wenchang's actions only further confirmed his suspicion.
"Heh, I see that you're no fool, to realize this was no random incident," Wang Wenchang said with a smirk. "Yes, I was behind all of this. I warned you before that the imitation market was no place for you. You didn't listen and look where it has landed you now. Who do you blame?"
"Aren't you afraid I'd do the same thing to you?" Lin Yun asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Ha! Do you really think I would fear your retaliation? There are countless others in Qinglong District doing the same thing, but some are permitted while others are not. The city is not a place where a country bumpkin can survive, so you'd better stay in your place," Wang Wenchang said after a hearty laugh, then gave Lin Yun a derisive look.
Using political power against competitors in the imitation market was a taboo act since the market itself was illegal. You might use political power against others, but others could do the same against you. Wang Wenchang had thoroughly investigated Lin Yun's background before daring to act against him so brazenly.
Having said that, Wang Wenchang turned and was about to strut away.
But suddenly, as if remembering something, Wang Wenchang turned back, looked at Lin Yun, and chuckled, "Oh! I have to thank you for the cheap equipment, too. Equipment worth one million bought for only half a million, saving me both time and granting me a team of skilled workers – such a great deal, hahaha!"
A merciless stab!
Yes! Wang Wenchang was showing off indeed!
After knocking down his enemy, he wanted to make sure the enemy knew who did it and then mock them in person. Only then would he felt satisfied!
He was feeling extraordinarily pleased at this moment!
Having said that, Wang Wenchang turned around, truly prepared to leave this time!
"Hold on."
Just then, Lin Yun suddenly spoke up.
"What now? Boss Lin, don't tell me you can't afford to get home. Well, for old time's sake, I could lend you some travel money..." Wang Wenchang turned back around, looked at Lin Yun, and sneered.
"It seems you know quite a bit about me," Lin Yun replied with a faint smile.
"Just a bit," Wang Wenchang dismissed the statement. Having shown off his power, he was no longer in the mood to stay there.
"Then, Boss Wang, do you know how I got my start here?" A gleam flashed in Lin Yun's eyes and he replied in a chilling tone.
"What do you mean?" Wang Wenchang furrowed his brow.
"I've been practicing martial arts since I was young, and I have quite a temper. Boss Wang, be careful in the future. You must have heard the saying, 'those who have nothing fear nothing.'" Lin Yun did not answer Wang Wenchang's question, instead he simply stated this fact.
With that, Lin Yun turned and walked towards the factory.
"Little Mei, Qingqing, you two calculate the wages for these workers," he said nonchalantly.
On the other side, Wang Wenchang's face turned dark.
What was Lin Yun implying?
Did he plan to threaten him with personal force since he didn't have any political power at his disposal?
"Hmph!"
After his expression shifted a few times, Wang Wenchang finally snorted, turned, and left.
Practiced martial arts since he was young? Did he think he was Bruce Lee?
He hadn't become who he was by being easily intimidated!
But as the saying goes, 'better safe than sorry'. He decided to be cautious for a while. If Lin Yun dared to make a move on him, he would make sure that he ended up in prison and never got out!